Lauren Richardson, one of the contestants for this year's ITV2 reality show Love Island (Image: Joel Anderson/PA Wire)

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The woman who was pictured with Zayn Malik shortly before he quit One Direction has said she received death threats from the band’s fans.

And Lauren Richardson, 26, who will take part in ITV2 dating series Love Island, insists nothing happened between the pair.

She said the photograph in March of the community sports officer holding hands with Malik in Thailand was “innocent”.

Online rumours prompted Malik, who since 2013 has been engaged to Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, from South Shields, to tweet: “I’m 22 years old, I love a girl named Perrie Edwards. And there’s a lot of jealous f***s in this world I’m sorry for what it looks like x.”

Speaking ahead of her appearance on Love Island, Richardson said: “I met Zayn Malik in a nightclub in Thailand. It got blown out of all proportion. But that’s a long story.

“It got so bad at one point. There were death threats and people saying I’m a homewrecker and ‘I want to find you’.

“There was a lot of hate behind everything. I was so scared. You think: ‘Are they actually going to find me?’”

She told a national newspaper: “It was just an innocent picture. Nothing else happened. He is a handsome lad but it is not something I would dive into.”

Malik flew home from the boyband’s world tour in March with “stress” before suddenly quitting the group, saying he wanted to be a “normal 22-year-old”.

His former bandmates admitted they were angry when they found out but have since mended their relationship.

Love Island, which sees a group of 12 single men and women sent to a Mallorcan villa, launches on ITV2 on Sunday, June 7 at 9pm.

The revamped show will see a group of 12 single men and women sent to a Mallorcan villa, including 27-year-old Newcastle model and club promoter Chris Williams.

Chris, who is behind nights like Voodoo at Riverside and Beau Monde at Bonbar, said: “I thought the opportunity to be in the sunshine surrounded by beautiful girls was too good to be true. I’m 27 now and looking for a girl, but I have quite high standards and Newcastle doesn’t always provide what I’m after.

“The girls here are highly amused and easily confused.

“They’ve got to be confident, relaxed, with a good bum. I’m a gym bunny and I like girls to be well toned too.”

But he said: “I’m really not into girls that are high maintenance. I can’t deal with girls that need constant attention or make me work hard all the time. I do quite like a challenge, but not a girl who’s a pain just for the sake of it. I like a girl who’s quite relaxed.

“I’ve got good green eyes, and my abs are pretty good.

“I went on Take Me Out three years ago which probably marked the worst date I’ve ever been on. We went deep sea fishing, which is not the most exciting date in the world, and she was so dull and boring.

“You know when she’s talking about crabbing with her dad when she was 11, the conversation’s dried up.

“In the end I took my top off and dived into the sea to get away from her, but the people on the boat pulled me back in.”